Office of General Counsel Overview

The Office of General Counsel (OGC) provides sound and timely legal advice and representation to our GSA clients to enhance their ability to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people.

OGC carries out all legal activities of GSA; ensures full and proper implementation of GSA's statutory responsibilities; provides legal counsel to the Administrator, the Deputy Administrator, and other officials of GSA (with the exception of certain legal activities of the Office of Inspector General and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals). The General Counsel is the chief legal officer of the agency and is responsible for legally sound implementation of GSA's mission responsibilities nationwide.

OGC also drafts legislation proposed by GSA; furnishes legal advice required in connection with reports on legislation proposed by other federal agencies; performs external liaison on legal matters with other federal agencies; provides representation of executive agencies in negotiations with carriers and other public utilities; conducts litigation and support activities in matters filed with administrative and judicial tribunals; and provides legal services to Presidential and other special commissions and committees and to small agencies.

Assisting the General Counsel in managing the Office are three Associate General Counsels who serve as division chiefs in Central Office, the Ethics Law Staff, the Administrative Support Staff and 11 Regional Counsels. Each of GSA's 11 regions has an Office of Regional Counsel. These offices, headed by Regional Counsels, may consist of one or a team of "managing" attorneys. The Regional Counsels report directly to the General Counsel through the Deputy General Counsel. The number of attorneys staffing each regional office varies with the size and workload of the region. Most regional attorneys work as general practitioners handling client matters on a priority basis and focus on matters and areas of law specific to their region.

The Real Property Division (LR) provides legal counsel to each of the GSA Public Buildings Service (PBS) business lines, as well as the Office of Real Property within the GSA Office of Governmentwide Policy.

The Personal Property Division (LP) provides legal advice and litigation support to the Federal Acquisition Service, the Office of the Chief Information Officer, the Office of Small Business Utilization, the Office of Mission Assurance, the Office of Administrative Services, multiple components of the Office of Government-wide Policy, and the Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies on terms of service and contracting matters.

The General Law Division (LG) provides legal advice and litigation support to GSA's services and staff offices on administrative law matters such as finance, employment and labor, privacy rights and freedom of information.

The Ethics Law Staff provides legal, policy and other assistance to the General Counsel in support of the General Counsel's functions as GSA's Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO) and takes responsibility for development and implementation of GSA's ethics program.

The Administrative Support Staff provides technical and administrative support to the General Counsel, Associate General Counsels and Regional Counsel offices in the areas of personnel, budget, training, travel and information technology.